Rename Burnaby's Tommy Douglas Library

Tommy Douglas (1904-1986) was the leader of the federal New Democratic Party of Canada who served as MP for Burnaby, British Columbia from 1962 to 1968. In 2009, the City of Burnaby opened a new library named in his honour.

He accused past government policies of "driving it underground" and said "we ought to recognize it for what it is: it's a mental illness, it's a psychiatric condition which ought to be treated sympathetically, which ought to be treated by psychiatrists and social workers."

Attempting to "treat" homosexuality as a mental illness has caused enormous pain to the LGBT community over the decades. The Burnaby Public Library Board, and the City of Burnaby, should not be giving a homophobe like Tommy Douglas this honour. We call for the immediate renaming of the Tommy Douglas library and removal of any library decorations or monuments erected in his honour.